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groovadelic

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Posts posted by groovadelic

  1. Posted · Report reply

    ill be accompanying my wife at a conference in Zion, IL in early November. I’ll have some time to kill while she is in conference, and I’d like to do some guitar hunting. I will stop in the Chicago Music Exchange on our way out of town, but wondered if there are any shops in the northern area for me to visit. Zion is pretty far north of the city.

    Thanks for any tips.

    Roger

     

    As mentioned, the Musicgallery is the only place up north that I can think of. A really cool store and I have not been there in the past 5 years, but from what I recall - lots of new Fender Custom Shop guitars and high end Gibsons. They did not much of an inventory for vintage instruments. They also had a really nice boutique amp selection - Victoria and Carr.

     

    CME is the place to go for vintage guitars. It's pretty much the only place I go to these days.

     

    Rock n Roll Vintage is another nice spot with a smaller selection of vintage guitars - they do have tons of pedals. It's close to CME so not anywhere near Zion.

  2. Posted · Edited by groovadelic · Report reply

    The 2007 TV was the inaugural year as well as the Modern Classic line. This is off memory by the way...

     

    TV: lighter and forward-shifted bracing, thinner finish, binding over the fret ends, spruce top, mahogany bs, madagascar rosewood bridge/fretboard, no pickup, banner headstock, orange label (does not say "true vintage"), vintage kluson tuners, tan-pink premium case.

    MC: standard bracing, binding under fret ends, spruce top, mahogany bs, indian rosewood bridge/fretboard, LR Baggs pickup, MOP headstock, white label, grover tuners, standard case

     

    Other notes:

    Adi top came much later as did all the hot hide-glue stuff (at least what was advertised)

    VOS "flat" finish introduced in 2008

    Madagascar rosewood replaced at some point due to fed regulations

     

    Hope this helps

     

     

    Correction - No binding on the J45. Was thinking about the Hummingbird.

     

    The one on reverb is legit although it does not have the correct case. If it were a later 2006, the guitar would not have a 40s banner headstock. And TVs never had a custom shop decal on the back (though you can never say never with Gibson).

     

    As mentioned, some standard models sound really good. A friend of mine has a modern classic hummingbird and playing it side-by-side, I thought it sounded better than my TV VOS Hummingbird (all hide-glue version). Still expecting that mine will mature and continue to open up well!

  3. Posted · Report reply

    The 2007 TV was the inaugural year as well as the Modern Classic line. This is off memory by the way...

     

    TV: lighter and forward-shifted bracing, thinner finish, binding over the fret ends, spruce top, mahogany bs, madagascar rosewood bridge/fretboard, no pickup, banner headstock, orange label (does not say "true vintage"), vintage kluson tuners, tan-pink premium case.

    MC: standard bracing, binding under fret ends, spruce top, mahogany bs, indian rosewood bridge/fretboard, LR Baggs pickup, MOP headstock, white label, grover tuners, standard case

     

    Other notes:

    Adi top came much later as did all the hot hide-glue stuff (at least what was advertised)

    VOS "flat" finish introduced in 2008

    Madagascar rosewood replaced at some point due to fed regulations

     

    Hope this helps

  4. Posted · Report reply

    The original EB's had no finish under the guards from what I have seen.

     

    Confirmed - my Everly does not have finish under the pickguard. My theory on those guitars is that they applied the pickguard with glue, sprayed the nitro, and then removed the sticker wrap that covered the top of the pickguard. You can see the ebony finish touching the sides of the pickguard if you look closely. The newer ones have a stencil of some kind. I believe Gibson started doing this in 2010 or 2011. J180s prior just had the pickguards over the finish.

  7. Posted · Report reply

    There's the materials aspect of the pickguard which may be a challenge. They are very thick and it has to be since they need to be engraved.

     

    The design of the pickguard engraving has got to either be a mold or an heat imprint pattern that Gibson uses. The Hummingbird pickguard, as an example, did not engrave pickguards on reissues until they found the molds in around 2002-2003. They then started to create a special historic line that featured these pickguard which later became the True Vintage series and now the Vintage series.

     

    The painting process is basically applying paint by hand and polishing the top of the pickguard so the paint applies within the "grooves". It is fully exposed and can rub off from strumming.

  8. Posted · Report reply

    I was wondering if anyone knows how a J-200 "flowers and vines" pickguard is made (see attached JPG for example)?

     

    Thanks, Dan

     

    Hi Dan - there are 2 types. The original way they would do this is pour the plastic into a mold and then apply paint in the grooves. Some of the J200 pickguards depending on era also have MOP dots glued/inlayed as well.

     

    The other type on the newer SJ200 standards are just printed and sandwiched between two layers of pickguard material (outer layer being clear).

  10. Posted · Report reply

    Jikes, , , this is interesting. I'm sure most people here believe the 3 first-wave squares (H-bird, SJ, CW) were and still are 24,75 short-scale guitars.

    And that there were/are few exceptions, which would be long-scale Dove-necks put on randomly here and there as Kalamazoo either confused, experimental or short of stock rolled the everyday production forward.

    I need to measure mine again, , , or no I don't, I'm sure 3 of them are short and the 68'er (where the scale is known to have changed) is long.

    Let's hear what others have to say here - can't wait to see this unfold.

    Regarding volume, I'm afraid I disagree too. The old squares vary and ain't necessarily louder than the modern, post 1990 versions.

    Btw. the Birds and a smaller # of SJs were long-scaled plus/minus 1990 before Bozeman and Ferguson made their mind up to focus and follow the original specs'n'virtues we treasure so much.

    We'll see what happens.

    Cheers

     

    This catalog from 1962 lists them as 24.75" scale! Very strange... http://www.vintageguitarandbass.com/gibson/catalogues/1962_34.php

  11. Posted · Report reply

    One issue for some is the nut width. You'll encounter examples from the late 1960's width a narrow span that are difficult for some of us to play. My '65 has the conventional width, but I've owned a couple 66/67's that didn't suit me at all.

     

    One of the most surprising things about 1960s Hummingbirds - they're 25.5" scale length. I think the only year they were made with a 24.75" scale length may have been 1960 (not even sure about that). So '61-70s Birds were all long scale mahogany acoustics. They were loud instruments compared to the shorter scale Hummingbirds of today.

     

    Check it out:

     

    1961 - 25.4" FolkwayMusic

    1961 - 25.5" Elderly

    1961 - 25.5" Fretted Americana

    1964 - 25.5" CreamCityMusic

    1965 - 25.25" (weird length) GryphonStrings

    1968 - 25.5" Fretted Americana

     

    If you find or own one that is 24.75 - I would love to know! I have yet to find an example.

  13. Posted · Report reply

    I believe they had scalloped bracing in some guitars out of the 40s and 50s, but by the 60s it was not a standard practice at Gibson.

     

    So why not just get a righty and have a skilled luthier make a lefty bridge for it? I'm guessing it would be pretty straight forward if they had the original. As long as you kept the original, don't think it would have much impact on resale if that was a concern (as long as it's with hide glue).

  15. Posted · Report reply

    Groova,

     

    I don't want to put you through any trouble but as you might imagine ...Being a lefty a lot of times one has to live only on the fantasy of this or that vintage model.

     

     

    Is there any chance you would be willing and able to take some pics of the inside of the top of your 63 EB ?

     

    I would love to see what is underneath the hood

     

     

    And if I may ask a second question I would be interested in you comparing the sound of the EB vs the Firebird Custom (these guitars also have a pretty stellar reputation)

     

     

    Thanks to you and to everyone else for the thoughts

     

     

    JC

     

    No problem - will do. Sorry for the late response. I've been less frequent on these forums as I would like to be :(

  16. Posted · Report reply

    I have an original 63 in black. For a guitar with huge pickguards (really thick too!), a pinless bridge, and a shallower body depth than traditional Gibson acoustics (including the J185) - you'd expect it to be lacking. In contrast, compared to other guitars I've owned and own (new and vintage Hummingbirds, J180s, J200, J160E, J100, Firebird acoustic, Dove), it sounds absolutely stellar.

     

    To answer a couple of your questions - internally it's an X braced pattern (nothing unique going on). Also, the main aspects about converting to lefty would be the the bracing being reversed (not sure what that does to the sound) as well as the bridge. You would have to get one made - which is not difficult for a skilled luthier.

  17. Posted · Report reply

    Don't know how much your friend is willing to pay, but this company in Greece (I believe) offers hand engraved pickguards based on classic models. The top three on the page are Hummingbird styles in either gold or yellow. They ain't cheap (140 euros...around 158 USD as of today...before shipping costs are added). They do ship all over the world. There is evidently no VAT on orders shipped to the USA. It seems that basic shipping is free or if you want it sent by "Courier", add 30 euros.

     

    http://www.mv-customguitars.com/product-category/pickguards/

     

    I have no affiliation or knowledge about this company so I can't comment on their reputation.

     

    Thanks for the link! I'll send it to him.

     

    I know we all have our opinions on Gibson selling stuff direct. I guess you would only really care if you were the guy in need of something :). Love my Hummingbird VOS and the pickguard is not going anywhere!

  18. Posted · Report reply

    I don't see why Gibson wouldn't be willing to sell them a replacement pickguard. No idea what the price would be.

     

    Have you not called or emailed Gibson yet?

     

    Yep tried them - wish it were that simple. They said they cannnot (which I expected). A couple of years ago I had an issue needing replacement part, same answer through normal customer service - I did not want an aftermarket replacement. After that, I tried through a dealer (also said the same thing) and had to name drop Jeremy (who used to help folks out on the forum). He must have pulled some strings since shortly after they took care of me.

  20. Posted · Report reply

    I know this has been discussed a ton, and Jeremy did a great job prior to his departure to take care of so many of us (he personally helped me out on a couple of occasions). Basically, a friend of mine has a Gibson Hummingbird from 2007 which I personally found for him second-hand as he was really digging mine :)

     

    Well, a couple of years ago the outer layer of the pickguard started peeling as well as some of the edges curling. He tried gluing it, which didn't work, so he ripped it off and tossed it (NO!!!!!). I saw his guitar recently and shook my head. He said he hates that his guitar is now a birdless hummingbird.

     

    Thought I would post here to see if anyone has a contact at Gibson to see if we can pull a few strings and help a guy out. He can of course provide the serial number, pictures of the guitar, a sad face, etc.

  21. Posted · Report reply

    A vintage correct Gibson Everly Brothers guitar. There are a lot of unique things to the construction that Gibson does not do today on the reissues.

     


    •  
    • Spruce top
    • Shallow depth maple sides (not like reissue J180s and J185s) and flat back (Gibson will arch them now)
    • Mahogany Neck
    • 60s swirl tortoise pickguard - the new ones look nothing like the originals
    • Lacquer over the pickguards - in the 90s they lacquered the guitar then put the pickguards on. More recently with the BJA models they used a template to get the outline of the pickguard. In the 60s they masked the pickguard and lacquered right over it. It allows the brown/red of the tortoise pickguard to shine through.
    • Pinless Bridge with ADJ saddle (they've never reissued this in the US)
    • Nickel waffle back tuners
       

     

    Modern Improvements


    •  
    • Pickguards that don't shrink!
    • Score the edge of the pickguard if you're going to lacquer over it.
    • Trance Audio pickup on the bridge plate as an option.

  25. Posted · Report reply

    Ren saw the guitar for the first time at a "Homecoming" several years ago. He was very critical of the guitar and the whole project. He had no part in the project. I won't go into detail on his criticism of the guitar as several here own it and think quite highly of the model.

     

    From interviews, it's apparent Ren at heart is a guitar builder. His goal is to make the best guitar out there according to everything he's learned over the past few decades. According to interviews, it's a big reason he and Gibson parted ways.

     

    In order to produce some guitars you have to make decisions to save cost here and there. There are many things that Ren would care about that the average consumer would not in order to keep the cost down. So take it with a grain of salt. Those buying a J-15 get it because it's functional workhorse, not because it's the cadillac of guitar.

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